Ainise Havili - Assistant Coach - Women's Volleyball Coaches

Ainise Havili

Title:
Assistant Coach

One of the most decorated players in Kansas volleyball history, former All-American setter Ainise Havili returned to Lawrence in the spring of 2026 as the program’s new assistant coach. She enters her first season on head coach Matt Ulmer’s staff in 2026.

Havili returns to KU with professional playing and collegiate coaching experience. She has played for Indy Ignite of Major League Volleyball for the past two seasons, following one year with Vegas Thrill of the Pro Volleyball Federation. She also has overseas pro experience from playing in Sweden, Turkey and Germany following her collegiate career.

As a coach, Havili most recently spent the 2025 season as an assistant coach at Butler. She also has full-time coaching experience at Abilene Christian and Miami (Fla.) combined with one season as a volunteer assistant coach at Purdue.

Havili starred at Kansas from 2014-17 and was one of the faces of an era of Jayhawk volleyball that featured four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, a run to the Final Four in 2015 and the Big 12 Conference championship in 2016. As KU’s starting setter, Havili earned AVCA All-America honors four times and was named the Big 12 Setter of the Year twice. She remains the program's all-time leader with 5,255 career assists.

Since graduating from Kansas, Havili has been recognized with her jersey being retired at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in 2022, following by an induction into the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

A four-year starting setter, Havili finished her career ranked second in program history in assists per set and recorded 63 career double-doubles, the most in school history. She was a three-time All-Big 12 selection and earned AVCA All-Midwest Region honors three times. In 2015, she was named the NCAA Championship San Diego Regional Most Valuable Player while leading Kansas to its first and only national semifinal appearance.

Following her collegiate indoor career, Havili competed in beach volleyball at Arizona in 2019 before playing professionally overseas in Sweden, Turkey and Germany. She returned to the United States to compete in the Pro Volleyball Federation, earning a spot in the league's inaugural draft in 2024. Havili played for the Vegas Thrill before signing with the Indy Ignite the following season.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Havili graduated from Kansas in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in sport management and later earned a master's degree in marketing from Arizona in 2019.

THE HAVILI FILE
Alma Mater: Kansas, 2018 (Bachelor’s, Sport Management); Arizona, 2019 (Master’s, Marketing)
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas

COACHING EXPERIENCE
2026-Present: Kansas (Assistant Coach)
2025: Butler (Assistant Coach)
2023: Abilene Christian (Assistant Coach)
2023 (Spring): Miami (Fla.) (Assistant Coach)
2022: Purdue (Volunteer Assistant Coach)

PLAYING EXPERIENCE
Professional Career
2025-26: Indy Ignite (Major League Volleyball)
2024: Vegas Thrill (Pro Volleyball Federation)
Also played professionally in Sweden, Turkey and Germany after her college career

College Career
2019: Arizona (Beach)
2014-17: Kansas